In communities both urban and rural, many Iowans have no way to get to work. Maybe their job is a couple towns away from where they live, or perhaps they work third shift in a town with no late-night public transit.

Two years ago, Luther College Political Science Professor John Moeller and I led our first January Term course on Islam in Europe for Luther students. This week, we find ourselves in Europe again with a new cohort of students with whom we’ll spend three weeks studying the political and cultural debates concerning the place of Muslim minority communities in five European countries.

The eleventh day of the eleventh month is designated as Veterans Day. Communities across the nation celebrate and pay tribute to hometown heroes, too many of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Thanks to the sons and daughters who put their boots on the ground on the battlefield, Americans from all walks of life enjoy the blessings of freedom more than two centuries after the birth of a new nation.

There is definitely a reason God reserves childrearing for the young -- a point which really hit home for me recently when my husband and I spent eight days staying with three of our grandchildren so their parents could get away.

Every school year I get to know my students by allowing them to ask me questions after I’ve had my chance to learn about their lives.

Success in the classroom starts with a solid foundation of trust in a relationship, so I am very open with my bunch of seventh graders. An astute young man asked me this year what my worst fear was. Reflecting quickly, I pondered my ailing and aging grandfathers George and Josh, 90 and 96, respectively. Responding to the inquiry, I asked if any of the students in the class could tell me the name of their grandfather. Great grandfather? Great-great grandfather?

Let’s talk about linseed. An article on Ag Web notes that China may become the leading importer of linseed and linseed oil in 2014-15. Canada, one of the world’s major suppliers of linseed, plans to seek markets for “huge export supplies of the oilseed,” wrote Oil World last week.

The origins of this Memorial Day can be traced back to the Civil War. One hundred fifty three years later, Memorial Day remains one of America’s most cherished patriotic observances.

The spirit of this day has not changed -- it remains a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy. I am not here today to recite patriotic verses, to tell you things you already know, to give some rah rah and send you home thinking, “Well, what was the point?” While those types of speeches are important, and certainly have a place, I think we could all use a little break from the “politician speech.”

American poet and author Maya Angelou once quoted her mother as saying one “must always be intolerant of ignorance, but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.”